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Welcome to the Beginning Clarinet Songbook

Lesson 8: Rhythm
New Note and Rest Values: Eighth Notes and Eighth Rests

Follow the links below for more information on each song, as well as pictures and helpful links.

Song #1: Green Hills by the Sea

Song #2: Waves in the Sand

Song #3: Flopsy the Whimsical Clown's Flying Car

Song #4: A Purple Water Lily

Song #5: Clarobotoo Sails Over the Sahara at Sunset

Song #6: The Pelican's View

The elements of music in Lesson 8:

Sound: Pitches used in this lesson: A through A
Dynamics used in these pieces: forte, mezzo forte, mezzo piano, and piano
Rhythm: Time signatures used in this lesson: two-four, three-four, four-four
Note values used in this lesson: eighth notes, eighth rests, quarter notes, quarter rests, half notes, half rests, dotted half notes, whole notes, and whole rests
Melody: phrases, breath marks

In lesson 5 we learned about dynamics and the terms forte and piano. In this lesson we will expand our dynamic range to include two more levels of volume. The word mezzo (pronounced met-so) means medium and we add it to the terms forte and piano to create different dynamics.

Mezzo forte means medium loud and is represented in music by the letters mf.

Mezzo piano means medium soft and is represented in music by the letters mp.

You now know four dynamic markings: p, mp, mf, and f. Remember to always breathe deeply and produce your best possible tone, whether you are playing loudly or softly.